And yes I’m going to call it fan mail, because I’m gonna turn them trolls on their heads, and that’s alright with me.
OK, I wouldn’t necessarily call them trolls, but people who have nothing better to do in their lives but waste 10 minutes typing a poorly worded message (and for heavens sake it’s ‘their’ not there’) that only ever ends up in the spam folder. And I never block them, because every time they visit my page or watch one of my videos, my stats go up. How cool is that?
Everyone else on WordPress is so unfailingly nice, and have only ever cheered me on while I’ve been floundering around, learning the ropes, and annoying you all with cat gifs while I try to figure the hell out of this blogging thing. While I didn’t expect to come across any trolls here, at least it’s not as prolific as the fan mail I am subjected to over at YouTube on one of my more popular videos (why is it that they can never spell?)
I’ve always heard that the best thing is to not acknowledge the trolls and just pretend they aren’t there – as you run the risk of making yourself a neon sign for abuse if you write about. But I don’t agree with that. The first thing I thought of when I got fan mail, was how many other bloggers are being subjected to the same treatment and not talking about it? To be honest I was feeling a bit embarrassed that I had even recieved some.
I was trying to think of the best thing to say about this subject, especially considering how contentious it can be. But I really don’t even know what to say. All I do know is that there are far more good people out there than trolls. And while fan mail does suck, it actually makes me laugh a little…
The reason I find the whole thing funny is because I assume the authors of my fan mail, whoever they are behind their shield of anonymity, must genuinely believe their comments will induce either a) mind melting anger b) pain and sadness or c) some kind of action or response on my part (such as writing this blog post?)
But they must have forgotten about d) hilarious fits of laughter
Because one thing they must have forgotten when they sent their fan mail, is that I’m a frigging writer.
Like f— me could they be more stupid.
I deal with rejection every day (OK, once a fortnight if I’m lucky). And like Chuck Wendig used to say:
“Staple your rejections to your chest and wade into battle with them as your armour.”
Seriously, don’t they know that writers are covered in a coat of armour and we have goddamn staples in our chest?
And they thought I would be offended?
The thing is, I have come across more kindness and generosity through my blog than I could have ever imagined, and receiving fan mail feels like another successful notch in my blogging belt.
And the whole reason I’m writing this post is to let all my lovely followers and friends know that you’re not alone, and if this delightful event has happened to you too, then you’ve come to the write place! (Argh, yes I just said that).
🙂
Oh s—, I forgot to add cat gifs…
How a normal person reacts to trolls:
How a writer imagines they react to trolls:
How a writer really reacts to trolls:
The Cat's Write 
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